FILED United States Court of Appeals PUBLISH Tenth Circuit UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS January 16, 2020 Christopher M. Wolpert FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT Clerk of Court _________________________________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. No. 19-2020 PETRONA GASPAR-MIGUEL, Defendant - Appellant. _________________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico (D.C. No. 2:18-PO-02441-RB-GBW-1) _________________________________ Amanda Skinner, Assistant Federal Public Defender (Stephen P. McCue, Federal Public Defender, with her on the briefs), Office of the Federal Public Defender for the District of New Mexico, Las Cruces, New Mexico, appearing for Appellant. Dustin C. Segovia, Assistant United States Attorney (John C. Anderson, United States Attorney, with him on the brief), Office of the United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, Las Cruces, New Mexico, appearing for Appellee. _________________________________ Before BRISCOE, KELLY, and BACHARACH, Circuit Judges. _________________________________ BRISCOE, Circuit Judge. _________________________________ Defendant-Appellant Petrona Gaspar-Miguel (Gaspar) appeals the district court’s affirmance of her conviction for entering the United States in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(1). Gaspar contends the district court’s conclusion that she “entered” the United States even though she was under the constant surveillance of a border patrol agent is contrary to established law defining “entry.” Exercising jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we reject Gaspar’s constant surveillance argument and affirm the judgment of the district court. I Neither party disputes the relevant facts. See Aplt.’s Br. at 16; Aple.’s Br. at 10. A border patrol agent monitoring the border observed a group of people, of whom Gaspar was one, cross the border from Mexico into the United States by walking around a 15-foot high fence. ROA II at 16-17, 19, 20-22, 34. The agent radioed for assistance, and continued to observe the group as they proceeded further into the United States. Id. The agent watched the group with binoculars continuously from the time of their crossing until they were apprehended by other agents. Id. at 21–23. However, he could not make out any details of the individuals, even to determine how many there were. Gaspar was charged with illegal entry without inspection, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1325(a). Section 1325(a)(1) provides for criminal punishment of “any alien who (1) enters or attempts to enter the United States at any time or place other than as designated by immigration officers . . .” 8 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(1) (emphasis added). A motion hearing and bench trial were held before a magistrate judge, who found Gaspar guilty on the theory that she had, in fact, “entered” the United States. Gaspar appealed to the district court and argued her conviction should be overturned because “she did not ‘enter’ the United States within the meaning of § 1325(a) because she 2 was under official restraint [through constant surveillance] from the time of her entry until her arrest.” ROA I at 35. The district court found that the word “enters” in the immigration context has a long history of requiring not just physical presence in the ...
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Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals